No Rest For The Wicked
by Anarkyrie42
Summary: Four bounty hunters are summoned to find and secure a secret treasure trove on Tatooine. Catch is they have to get there first. And they have to work together to get there. Oh, and not kill each other. Boba Fett x Ahsoka Tano.
1. Bring Your Guns

Hi, there everyone. This is all Star Wars, not exactly canon-compliant (whatever that means) and Bosoka (as in Boba Fett will be in a relationship with Ahsoka Tano by the end of this). There might be fluff or explicit content by the end of this— I haven't really planned that far, yet.

This is kinda Borderlands-inspired. Okay, it's REALLY Borderlands-inspired.

Enjoy! :D

* * *

 **CHAPTER ONE**  
 _Bring Your Guns_

 _Tatooine_  
Ahsoka stifled a cry of surprise as the pirate swung the whip down, streaking blood across the floor with flecks of skin. He arched away from the points of contact, saliva spurting out around the leather gag and running down his jaw and neck, chasing a moan of pain, as sweat and blood ran down his chest, back and quivering legs. He sagged on the binders, his knees threatening to hit the ground. Another pirate—human, this time— stuck his head into the tent.

"We caught the Trandoshan," the human said. "But we didn't catch the other Mandalorian."

"There's two of those bastards out there?" the Zygerian snarled. "Find him! Bring him to me! I want his helmet and its contents on a spike."

"Got it, captain," the human nodded, ducking out and shouting at the other pirates. The Zygerian followed, snapping orders about not letting the prisoners escape. Ahsoka edged closer to her comrade, reaching out her bound hands and touching his knee—the only part of him she could reach.

"You okay?"

He didn't respond. A trickle of blood ran down his lip from his nose.

"Boba?"

His gaze flicked from the ground to her, meeting her concerned stare. She felt the spike of fear in him. He didn't want to die. Rather, he didn't want her to see him die. She hesitated, but used the Force to pull the gag out of his mouth.

"Ahsoka..." his voice was a hoarse rasp.

"Yes?" she looked up, expectant.

"I'm going to kill them. You're okay with that?" he asked. She gave him a confused look. Why would he need her approval?

"Boba, for what they did to you, I'll help you _gladly_."

.

,

 _Three days ago..._  
She'd been on her own for five years, mostly freight jobs with employers who didn't ask too many questions and the occasional object return bounty.

So when Ahsoka Tano saw that she wasn't the only one who'd responded to the summons but who the other three people were—people who knew she was a Jedi—all people willing to commit heinous acts of violence, she was (a little) concerned.

 _Great._

"Little lady," Bane rasped, tipping his hat sarcastically. Ahsoka bit back a snarky response, a little taken aback when the Mandalorian tipped his helmeted head in a polite nod. The Trandoshan's tongue flicked out as he looked her over.

"Thisss could be fun," the Trandoshan said. "Huh, Boba?"

The Mandalorian shrugged and Ahsoka felt her heart sink. The Trandoshan seemed slightly excited and apprehensive of the mission—but Cad Bane and Boba Fett seemed totally calm. Although Ahsoka did note a tinge of anger hovering around the Mandalorian.

"Um, it's nice to see you again, Cad Bane… And you, Boba Fett," Ahsoka offered. Bane appeared to half-smile, half-sneer. Fett didn't react, not even in his aura. "I gotta wonder, though, who thinks it's a good idea to put the four of us together?"

"Maybe they want to see who's the biggest, baddest bounty hunter alive," Bane shrugged. "See if you've got any of your daddy's genes, besides the looks," he added, glancing at Fett.

"Or maybe they just have a job that requires our combined skills," Fett replied. His voice reminded Ahsoka very little of the clones she'd spent three years in the trenches with and even less of the twelve-year-old boy she'd helped arrest. There was a gravelly, galaxy-worn note to it. _He's eighteen. How can he sound so… old?_

"If they needed sssomeone with Forssse powersss, they should've asssked Asssajj," Bossk droned. He flicked his tongue out, staring at Ahsoka. "At leassst it'd give usss sssomething nissse to look at, too…"

Fett crossed his arms, a little more anger tinting his aura momentarily. It returned to flat calm almost immediately.

The screen beeped and clicked on. A thin man in an expensive suit with a stylish haircut appeared, sitting in a chair. " _Is it on? It's on. Okay, hi, bounty hunters! I—gosh this embarrassing… I'm a huge fan of you, Mr. Fett. Almost as big a fan as I was of your father. And you, Mr. Bane! You're a genius! An artist!_ "

"Okay, just tell us what you want," Bane rasped.

" _Ahem, right, well, I'm Jexx Konner. As in the son of the late Degan Konner. Dad left me a message saying he had my inheritance locked up in a vault he found once… On Tatooine. Thing is, I can't go to Tatooine because of a misunderstanding my little brother had with Jabba the Hutt… All I want's my inheritance which is in this box…_ " Jexx held up a picture of a crate with ornate designs on it. "I _t's going to take all four of you to get to the vault and open it successfully. I've supplied you with a map and transport. This is time sensitive, though. Apparently, the vault only stays openable for twenty years every two hundred and fifty years… and the twenty years are up in five days. So hurry up. You can take whatever you want from the vault and I'll pay you afterwards. So… Yes or no_?"

"We're here already, so why not?" Ahsoka said, looking at the males. Bane shrugged.

"As long as I get paid," he said.

"Sssame here," Bossk said.

"Fine," Fett said. "Deal."

,

.

"I fly."

All four of them looked at each other. Ahsoka held one hand up.

"I'm the best pilot here," she said.

"Is that right?" Fett returned.

" _Yes_ , it is," Ahsoka replied sharply. "It's in the Force sensitivity."

"Pilot and co-pilot," Bane said. "You two fly first. Bossk and I will do inventory and weapons checks then take over for you. Don't kill each other."

"Who put you in charge?" Bossk asked.

"You think you could beat me?" Bane glared up at the Trandoshan. Bossk growled, but submitted.

Ahsoka was uncomfortable with the whole situation, but was almost glad to have Bane around. Despite their rocky history, he was the closest thing she had to an ally among the three males. He knew what she was capable of and she almost trusted him because of that. But then, it was _Cad Bane_ , so trust was immediately impossible. She didn't trust Bossk on the stigma of his being a Trandoshan and her… experiences with Trandoshans had always been negative. And then there was Boba Fett. He hated Jedi. He'd tried to kill her master and quite nearly succeeded. And was it her imagination or had Bane actually seemed a slight bit wary of the Mandalorian teenager?

She didn't like the fact that she couldn't see his eyes, either, but she could feel Fett staring at her as she piloted the ship towards Tatooine.

"Either take your helmet off or turn your head away from me," Ahsoka said, finally. "You're making me uncomfortable."

"Am I, Jetii?" Fett sounded bitter, though his aura didn't so much as flicker any more anger than what had been hovering around the fringes since before Ahsoka had walked into the room. "Perhaps you'd rather I stood at attention behind you? Called you 'sir' and saluted every time you asked me to do something?"

"I didn't kill your father," Ahsoka said, glaring right at him. "I wasn't even a padawan when he died. Stop acting like I was the one who chopped his head off."

He snorted and turned his head, away from her. She sighed and settled back in the chair.

.

,

Ahsoka froze, breath catching in her throat.

She hadn't realized Fett was even awake, let alone standing, until a pair of gloved hands touched her back, one hand holding the back of her shirt in place while the other dragged the zipper up, just out of her range of movement.

"Thanks," she said.

He didn't so much as grunt in response. She looked over her shoulder at him and saw he was without his helmet. He looked tired and older than he was. And sad. There was a definite trace of sadness around his eyes. The rest of his face looked generally indifferent.

"No problem," he said finally, turning away. "Aside from those glowsticks, do you have anything?"

"A stun blaster."

"You'll need something stronger," he said, moving to the third locker on the wall—the one Jexx had labeled with his name—, past the bunks. He opened it and pulled a DC-17 blaster out. He put his helmet back on one-handed and offered her the Deece.

"That brings back memories," Ahsoka said. He handed her a few charge packs for it. "Where'd you find this?"

"Empire trashed 'em, I happened to come across a few…" he shrugged.

"And you trust me not to accidentally shoot you?" she raised an eyebrow.

"I trust you not to put yourself in danger by trying to shoot me," he replied. She shrugged, checked the weapon, then loaded it and left the safety on, slinging the deece's strap across her torso.

"I wondered what had happened to you," Ahsoka said. He appeared to be ignoring her as he checked a pair of blasters, trading them out for the ones already in his holsters. "Those aren't the ones Jexx gave you…"

"Observant," he drawled, sticking extra fuel cells in the pouches on his belt.

"Fett, Girl," Bane said, sauntering into the cabin. "We're here. Bossk's gonna land her and we'll be on the move. Are you really just wearing that, Little One?"

"What's wrong with this?" Ahsoka frowned. The only skin her outfit revealed was a little on her outer thighs, just above her knees and across her upper and lower back and stomach. And her cleavage.

"Might as well just be wearing your belt and rifle," Bane teased.

"Might actually make this enjoyable if she did," Fett scoffed. Bane snickered at that. Ahsoka shot them both a look.

"I'll kriffing shoot you if I catch you staring, either one of you," Ahsoka hissed. "Somewhere very painful but ultimately non-essential. Pass that on to Bossk, too."

"Oh, there we go, Little Lady," Bane rasped, almost smiling . "I was wondering if there was fire in there…"

Fett's silence annoyed her. Not as much as the fact that she couldn't read him, though.

When they touched down and the engine cut off, Bossk came to join them.

"According to the map Konner gave us, there's a small, complex tunnel system," Bane said, holding up the holo unit.

"That's almost identical to the tunnel network the Genosians built under their main droid factory," Ahsoka said.

"Can you memorize the network?" Bane asked. Ahsoka nodded.

"Yeah, I can," she said, scanning the system with her eyes. "I'd like a copy of this map on my datapad."

Bane held out his hand. She handed over her datapad and he connected the two devices, downloading the map into her datapad, then returned it.

"Thank you," Ahsoka mumbled. He shrugged.

"Anyway, Konner gave us a file, as well," Bane said, holding up the flimsi file. They squatted down on the deck and passed the sheets around. The pages were detailing traps around the tunnels and mechanisms leading up to and in the vault.

"None of them sssay what unlocksss the mechanisssmsss or how to deactivate any of the trapsss," Bossk stated.

Ahsoka scoffed. "C'mon, Bossk, show some confidence. If we couldn't pull this off, why would Jexx have hired us?"

Bossk tipped his head to the side slightly, staring at her with unblinking, reptilian eyes. "Good point."

"This one looks something like a Jedi holochron, but a lock instead of a box," Bane noticed. He looked at Ahsoka. "Now we know why you're here, Little Lady."

"I'm picking up concerning chatter," Fett interrupted. "A Zygerian pirate appears to have heard of this vault. And Jabba wants a slice, too."

"We're all here for a reason, Mr. Bane," Ahsoka said, sounding a bit more mystic Jedi than she intended to. Bane snorted.

"I suppose you're right," he said.

"Damn it," Bane hissed.

"I guess we better hop to it, then," Ahsoka said. "C'mon, guys!"

Bossk stood and followed her out, leaving Bane and Fett alone for a moment.

"I say we kill them both and take everything we can carry," Bane said. Fett considered.

"That _is_ an idea..."

* * *

Cad Bane as the Hunter, Ahsoka Tano as the Siren, Boba Fett as the Soldier, and Bossk as the Berserker. Cue Cage the Elephant and a story teller/bus driver in a thick accent.

Reviews are appreciated!


	2. Welcome To The Wasteland

Second chapter! WHOO! I forgot to say I don't own Star Wars... But obviously I don't. This one gets a might more graphic. STILL shipping Ahsoka and Boba together!

* * *

 **CHAPTER TWO**

 _Welcome to the Wastelands  
_

 _Tatooine  
_ "Not good," Bane grumbled, counting the number of pirates. Even if, during the melee, Fett and Ahsoka got loose and grabbed weapons, the four of them couldn't take out a force of fifty-three armed pirates with assorted speeders on hand. "Wait a sec... Bossk, doesn't Fett keep a few spare armor plates?"

"Yeah," Bossk confirmed. Bane waved for the Trandoshan to follow him back to the ship.

"We've got fifty-three enemies," Bane said. "And Fett's probably not in good shape, if I placed that scream right."

"Can't we jussst continue without them?" Bossk hissed.

"Without Fett, sure," Bane shrugged. "But not without the little Jedi. We need her to open that Force lock."

"If he wasss ssscreaming, I doubt he'sss in any kind of good shape," Bossk said.

"Slag, that means the little lady won't want to leave him..." Bane sighed. "Ah well."

"You've got a plan?"

"Yes. You're gonna lure a group out and we'll ambush them," Bane said. "When they send out a search party, we'll ambush them, too."

"Why do I have to lure them?" Bossk frowned.

"Because they saw you, but they haven't seen me yet," Bane said. "I'm gonna put on Fett's spare armor. Make them think I'm Mandalorian, too, and set up some buckets to make it look like there's more of us. Give them something to shoot at and waste their ammo."

"And I don't get the armor, why?"

"Because you're too big," Bane replied. "Bossk, if we could leave them, we would. But we can't. If we rescue her, she'll want to drag Fett along, if he's hurt. And we _need her to open the fucking lock_."

"Fine. Just don't get me killed," Bossk hissed. Bane waved his hand casually, dismissively. He picked up a bucket and inspected it briefly before pulling a paint marker out of his pocket and drawing a T on one side. _That'll do it, I guess..._

"Of course not."

.

,

 _Three days ago_...  
"There is no way in the nine Corellian hells that I'm going first," Ahsoka said, glaring at Bane defiantly.

"Fine, brat," Bane scowled. "You're following right behind me. Fett, you're behind her."

"What?" Ahsoka protested.

"Would you rather him or Bossk?" Bane rasped. Ahsoka looked from the blank stare of the T-slit visor to the hungry expression the Trandoshan was giving her. She gave up and nodded. Bane swung down into the tunnels, landing in a crouch and moving onto his hands and knees as the first tunnel narrowed. Ahsoka dropped in after him. She didn't hear Fett land, but saw him behind her when she glanced to see if he was coming.

"The tunnel's supposed to open up in another eighty meters or so," Ahsoka said.

"Ahsoka, is it possible for you to move your knee further up when you move forward?"

"Sorry," Ahsoka mumbled and shifted her crawl-stride. "Better?"

"Thank you."

"Stop," Bane said. The group halted and Bane edged backwards, stretching out onto his belly. He pointed up the tunnel. "Little one, can you get through there?"

"That's not supposed to be there," Ahsoka said. The tunnel abruptly became metal and had narrowed too much for even tall, slender Cad Bane to fit through.

"Think she can fit through there? With thossse ti—"

A wet thunk, like a boot smashing into a muzzle, interrupted Bossk's comment.

"Can you make it?" Bane repeated. Ahsoka nodded and crawled past him, sliding down on her belly and reaching for hand grips. Bane pushed against the soles of her boots, helping her get into the tunnel. Ahsoka dragged herself to the very end of the metal part and almost fell. She yelped, seeing the drop before she registered what it was.

"Oh..."

"What's wrong, Little Lady?" Bane called up to her.

"It opened up more than the map said it would!" Ahsoka stared down. Even a Jedi would be concerned about the fall, considering the fog below clouded whether or not there was a safe place to land. She didn't want to find out the hard way if Jedi 'bounced.'

"Is there a way to open up this metal part?"

Ahsoka looked around and saw what looked like a control panel on the other side of the chasm. At a distance she wasn't sure she could get the thrust to reach from just a jump. "I'm wishing I thought to bring a jetpack, too," she called back to them. A grappling hook zipped past her head. She caught it and a jetpack was suddenly grinding up the auto-line towards her. "Thank you, Mr. Fett."

"You're welcome, Jedi."

She almost preferred his abrasive attitude from before to this cool, indifferent politeness. Ahsoka slid out grabbing onto the nearly-smooth cliff face with one hand while she shrugged on the jetpack. She switched hands and buckled herself in, shifting her position on the cliff once she was set. She jumped, fired the jetpack and landed on the ledge. She dropped the jetpack gingerly and scanned the controls.

"They're not in Galactic or basic or... I don't recognize the language," she told them over comms.

" _Describe the characters._ "

"There's two sets and a lever... One starts with an upside-down hook pointing to the right and the other starts with an upside down hook pointing to the left with little triangles in it."

"... _Turn the lever towards the first one you just said._ "

"What's it say?"

" _What's the rest of the word?_ "

"There's a little dagger thingy then two upside-down L's with triangles and the other one—"

" _That one's the right one. The first one._ "

"You sure?"

" _Yes. It's Mando'a. 'Tenn.' It means open."_

"Oh, okay," Ahsoka said and snapped the lever towards 'Tenn.' The tunnel opened back up and a laser bridge extended from the mouth of the tunnel to the platform, behind which a door opened.

"Figures some annoying Mando bastard would put this together," Bane grumbled as they continued through the passage.

"How'd that get there, you think?" Bossk asked.

"Some Mandalorian installed it," Ahsoka shrugged. She looked at Fett. "Any thoughts?"

"What're you looking at me for? I didn't install it."

,

.

Fett was having a harder time than he thought.

Growing up, he hadn't known many females, not besides the female Cuy'val Dar his father had hired and Zam Wessell, really. And Zam was less like a woman and more like one of Dad's Coworkers. And none of the Cuy'val Dar had ever registered as more than suits of armor with certain attitudes. Aurra Sing fell into a similar category when he met her, later.

Then he met Ahsoka Tano. He knew, but hadn't really realized, that there were female Jedi. But there she was, all leather, skin and fire. He hadn't had a chance to get to know her, but there was something about her...

Being trapped in close quarters with her made it harder to remember The Rules. To be polite and shun attachments and focus on the mission. Those were Dad's Rules. He wasn't supposed to get distracted. But he couldn't help it. Her outfit was conservative compared to what he remembered. Her trousers were looser than those tights and her shirt was closed up the front, mostly. There was a little bare skin around her midriff and a little across the upper part of her back, between her shoulders. And for some reason it was just distracting. He didn't know why he gave her the deece, but he didn't think she'd point it at him any time soon.

He wondered, for a moment, if it was Jedi sorcery.

Whatever it was, he had to get his head past it.

Before it caused him to do something stupid.

Like fall in love again.

.

,

Bossk froze stiff. "I sssmell gasss."

"What?" Bane rasped, looking over at him. "What kind of gas?"

"Poison gas," Fett replied. "Non lethal at the moment, but more's coming in."

"We need to find a way out, then," Ahsoka said.

"There'sss no other door," Bossk snarled.

"The tunnel's supposed to continue, though," Ahsoka argued. She could feel her eyes and throat starting to burn. Bossk was rasping when he breathed, now, and he was blinking more. "There."

"That's a _wall_ ," Bane pointed out.

"There's structural weakness here," Fett said, pulling out a roll of detonite tape.

"Move," Bossk hissed. Fett stepped to the side and, with a snarl, the Trandoshan was crashing through the wall. He shook his head, dazed.

"Gas flow stopped," Fett said.

"Good work, Bossk. C'mon," Bane said, stepping over the Trandoshan. Ahsoka helped Bossk up and looked at Fett.

"Were you able to identify the gas?" Ahsoka asked.

"It was pulmonary agent with hallucinogen additives," Fett replied flatly, like he was commenting on the weather. He left out the part where he'd seriously considered tearing the air-filtration unit out of his helmet and putting it on her. And the part where he'd almost panicked.

"So Bossk and I would've, what, started coughing up blood and laughing about it?" Ahsoka frowned.

"You probably would've attacked Bane and I first, then drowned in your liquified lungs."

His indifference and casual attitude irked Ahsoka. But she let it go when he stopped to help her get Bossk to his feet and let the trandoshan lean on him, rather than her.

The next trap was easy. It was one Bane had been through before. It was a dark room with boxes that extended from the walls, with lightsaber-like attachments on the end. They navigated to the end of it easily, under his guidance, as he relayed the story of how Obi-Wan Kenobi had made it easy for him to figure out before.

"You know, Jedi aren't bad mercenaries," Bane commented as they reached the tunnel at the conclusion of the obstacle course. "Rather, Force sensitives aren't so bad. Wouldn't mind having a Force Sensitive partner."

"Don't look at me," Ahsoka shot him an annoyed look. "I'd rather be shackled to Mr. Fett here than work with you."

"Shackled, huh?" Bane smirked. "Bet you'd enjoy that, Fett."

"To a Jedi? No," Fett said. "Now, a twi'lek dancer? I could get behind that."

"I bet you would," Bossk snickered. "I could _get behind_ that, too."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "If this was Ventress and not me, would you three be having the same conversation?"

"Yes," Bane replied casually. "Except we'd be flirting with her, as well. Except for Boba. He'd be silently plotting her murder."

"Would not," Fett said. "I'd be biding my time until I could execute one of the thousand plots for her murder that I've already come up with."

"What'd she do to you?"

"She tied him up and put him in a box," Bossk snickered. Fett might've shot him a glare, but the helmet made it impossible to tell. All of a sudden, there was ray-shielding around them. A post popped up out of the floor, a single red button on the end of it, just on the other side of the ray shielding.

"Damn it," Bane grated. "Little lady, put those Force powers to use and push that button."

The button clicked down and a ripple of energy flicked across the shields, changing the color to purple, but not really stopping them. A second button appeared on the post.

"I can't do anything about this," Ahsoka said.

"I can get through it," Fett said.

"Why?"

"Because I just scanned the shield and only humans can pass through it unharmed," he replied. His body tensed up as he started to move through the energy field. Ahsoka saw the pain tangibly shooting across his aura. He staggered when he got through and slapped his hand onto the second button. The shielding came down.

"If you're not human and none of the traps until now killed you..." Bane grumbled, fixing his hat.

"You okay, Fett?" Ahsoka asked.

"Fine..." he shook his head and the pain evaporated from his aura. "It just tingled."

"I thought you said you could get through it unharmed..."

"Maybe it _tingled_ because I'm a clone. Hell if I know," Fett shrugged. He tensed again, appearing to notice something. "Damn it."

Ahsoka turned around, feeling them immediately. She sent a Force shove down the hall, knocking their tail back. She looked over her shoulder at Bane and Bossk. "Run!" she called out. They did, and so did she and Fett, but she wasn't fast enough.

"Ahsoka!" Fett turned to help her and a blaster shot nearly took his head off. He flattened his back against the corner in the turn in the wall. Bossk and Bane were nowhere to be seen. He drew his blaster and somersaulted into the middle of the hall, kneeling over Ahsoka and opening fire at the rapidly growing group of pirates He dropped one hand to the back of her shirt and started to drag her to cover when one of the pirates hit him with an EMP shot. His HUD went dark and a second shot—a stun shot—took him out, laying him out on the ground beside the already unconscious ex-Jedi. He wasn't quite out, but the pirates, once they rushed up to Ahsoka and him, fixed that with a double-tap to the chest.

,

.

 _Two days ago...  
_ Ahsoka woke up with her hands tied together and the tie attached to a post in the ground. She was outside the tunnels, in a tent, lying on her belly. She was without her lightsabers, belt, goggles, scarf and the deece Fett had given her. _He's going to be pissed when he finds out I lost his rifle to_ pirates... Ahsoka mentally kicked herself, picturing the ripple of rage scrawling through his aura and imagining what the expression behind that blank visor would be. She'd seen one she could place on him on Rex before. Disapproval, disappointment, annoyance...

Then she saw who was in the tent with her.

He was stripped down to his underwear, hands tied to a crossbar above his head, body hanging loose, head bowed, legs slack under him, slightly bent. He had a bruise and a small burn on his chest and another bruising spot on his face, across his cheek and surrounding a small gash probably made by a ring. Blood had dried on his lip, where a cut was beginning to scab. His ribs were bruising, too. Two of the fingers on his left hand were broken, like his nose. He had a leather strap in his mouth, gagging him. Ahsoka realized it was his belt.

A Zygerian sauntered into the tent, then, looking first at Ahsoka, who'd screwed her eyes shut and pretended to still be unconscious, then at Boba Fett. "I know you're awake, Mandy bastard," he said, grabbing Fett's jaw roughly and lifting his head. Ahsoka opened her eyes and watched them. Fett thrust forward, trying to headbutt the Zygerian. A rough slap sounded, making Ahsoka flinch. Fett grunted quietly, his head rolling back into the downward position. Blood and spit dribbled around the belt in his mouth. The Zygerian tugged the belt out of Fett's mouth and the Mando made to bite him, a punch to the ribs and an elbow to the face putting him in his place.

"When I get out of here, I'm going to fucking crush your fucking skull," Fett hissed, blood running freely from the open cuts on his face.

"You know, I met your father. He gave me a similar promise, but here I am," the Zygerian grinned viciously at Fett. "He was a screamer, you know. Nice, loud, shrill, _womanly_ screams..."

Fett kicked up roughly with both his bound feet. The Zygerian stepped back and grabbed his legs, holding them under one arm. He drew a long, thin knife and put the point against Fett's skin, just above the knee, grinning menacingly at him, again.

"Stop!" Ahsoka shouted. The Zygerian dropped Fett's legs and kicked him hard in the stomach, hard enough to make him empty his already empty stomach, spit, bile and a little blood spattering down his front and onto the ground.

"What's this...?" the Zygerian crouched, looking at Ahsoka. "Awake?"

Ahsoka glared defiantly at him.

"Oh, come now, little Togruta... You really don't want me to catch you up on what your friend and I have been... chatting about."

"Okay..." Ahsoka said. "I'll tell you what you want if you stop hurting him."

"Ah, smart girl..."

* * *

Reviews?


	3. Trash The Bandits

Still don't own Star Wars. Promise, I don't. Then again, this _is_ the internet, so whose to say I don't? Riiight, the Mickey Moufia do now... :P Yes, I think I just came up with that on the spot. Also, I just want to get this story off my chest because the galaxy needs more pairings that make almost no sense, canonically in their respective canon. Enjoy!

* * *

 **CHAPTER THREE**

 _Trash the Bandits_

 _"Oh..." Ahsoka wasn't sure if backing up or reaching out to shake his hand was appropriate. Slowly, the man reached up and removed his helmet, but she already knew who he was. He, much like his son, was perfectly unreadable, both in his features and aura. Ahsoka opted for holding out her hand. "I'm Ahsoka Tano."_

 _"I know. This is your dream, kid," he said after a moment, expression not exactly softening, but smoothing out a little._

 _"I'll admit, I expected you to be taller," Ahsoka said. He raised an eyebrow. "Because your clones are all taller."_

 _"They ate well growing up. I didn't," he said. He was doing that thing, stating things flatly. Matter-of-factly. Without much inflection, zero expression and no emotion. Ahsoka didn't really know what to say next. Fetts, she noted, were hard to have conversation with._

 _"Um... I've never talked to a, uh..."_

 _"A dead person? Neither have I," he replied, shrugging. "And it's been a long time since I've talked to a living person, either."_

 _"You weren't Force sensitive, were you?"_

 _He snorted and gave her a stern, reproving look. "Absolutely not."_

 _"Why am I dreaming about you? Am I even dreaming about you? We've never met—I never saw a picture of you in full armor... Just your arrest photo," she said. He shrugged._

 _"I was never Force sensitive, but you are," he said. "Mandos don't believe in the Force, but we believe in the Manda. The essential life-force of everything. Where the dead go when they pass and where life is given from. Kind of the same as the Force, right down to it, I suppose."_

 _"That makes more sense than anything I could come up with," Ahsoka said. "Doesn't answer the why, though."_

 _He gave her a look that made her feel naked, like he'd stripped her down to basic parts in his mind, like a weapon, not a person. Like he was weighing her usefulness and potential uses. "Hurt him, and I will fucking haunt you."_

 _Ahsoka's eyes flicked open wider. That was much different than anything she'd seen out of Boba. His expression was cold, but his tone was forceful, full of paternal care, thinly veiled threat and potential rage. She could feel that coming from him, like a hand around her neck and one clenching her heart._

 _"I would never," Ahsoka said. His expression softened, pain infiltrating the hard resolve. He nodded._

 _"That makes more sense than anything I could come up with," Ahsoka said. "Doesn't answer the why, though."_

 _He gave her a look that made her feel naked, like he'd stripped her down to basic parts in his mind, like a weapon, not a person. Like he was weighing her usefulness and potential uses. Jango Fett fixed her with a menacing glare. "Hurt him, and I will fucking haunt you."_

 _Ahsoka's eyes flicked open wider. That was much different than anything she'd seen out of Boba. His expression was cold, but his tone was forceful, full of paternal care, thinly veiled threat and potential rage. She could feel that coming from him, like a hand around her neck and one clenching her heart._

 _"I would never," Ahsoka said. Jango's expression softened, pain infiltrating the hard resolve. He nodded._

 _"I believe you. We'll speak again."_

Ahsoka woke with a start.

She looked around and realized she was in bed with Fett, his arm draped over her side, head bowed, bandaged left hand resting in her palm. She closed her fingers around his hand and leaned forward, kissing his forehead. She didn't doubt Jango's threat (because that's what it was. A flat-out threat. And she wasn't interested in finding out what a vengeful spirit from the Manda could do to someone). She wasn't sure where this was going, but she did know she'd do her best to make it a smooth ride for Boba. Ahsoka was prepared to leave every single thing she'd learned as a Jedi behind to make it smooth for him. He'd gone out of his way to protect her, for no reason. She owed him that, at least.

"'Soka...?" his voice was a low rasp. He hadn't been asleep, just had his eyes closed. The lazy way he opened his eyes appeared enough evidence for that. She reached up and stroked his hair back.

"Yeah?" she answered in a soft voice.

"Thirsty."

"Be right back," she said, sliding out of the bunk. She almost reached for her clothes, but stopped feeling self-conscious when she recalled they were alone on Slave I, drifting. She returned to his bunk with a plastoid cup of water, which he accepted readily and downed quickly, propping himself up on one arm, before sinking back down on his side. He waved her closer. She climbed back into bed with him, leaving the plastoid cup on the floor. He edged over, putting his head on her chest and hugging her. She smoothed her hand through his hair again, resting her other hand on his arm. She found herself humming a snatch of a song, something she remembered hearing Anakin humming to himself when he thought no one was listening. She'd asked him about it once and he'd told her it was all he remembered of his mother—a song she used to sing him when he was a baby. He hadn't remembered the words and Ahsoka figured it didn't matter now.

She heard Boba's breathing change and felt it slow, along with his heartrate, against her skin. His breath ghosted across her breasts and she realized he was sleeping. Ahsoka smoothed her hand through his hair again and tipped her head back, her horns tapping the wall above her head lightly and she, too, fell asleep...

,

 _Two days ago..._  
" _Shit!_ " Bane hissed loudly inside the helmet. "Kriffing barve had one slagging job! Run around in a circle and not get caught! One. Slagging... Mother..." Bane rattled a long, slow breath and shifted his position, scanning the horizon. The traps were all laid out, still. Bossk knew where they were, so he could've avoided them, but Bossk wasn't coming. Instead, it was just Bane. In Fett's stupid spare Mandalorian-style durasteel armor. The polished metal wasn't exactly stealthy and seeing it had thrown the thought through his mind—what if that actually _is_ Jango Fett's armor...?

A thought scrolled into place in Bane's mind. Plan B Time. What was that word Walon taught him...? Ret'lini.

"Ret'lini time," Bane said, picking himself up. He darted out along the rocky outcropping and slid down, on the other side of his traps. He didn't need any of them, now. Except Ahsoka. The helmet had a rudimentary HUD, but there were gas sensors (it also had a voice filter) and there was an additional helmet filter. He just needed the damn Force sensitive... Bane switched on the voice filter. Then there were pirates.

"There he is, there's the other Mandalorian!" a weequay shouted.

"Boss wants him alive!" a human called out. Bane drew the dual blasters.

"Think you can take me on?" he called out, the helmet producing a near-perfect imitation of a Concord Dawn drawl. Bane smirked. That stopped a few of them in their tracks.

"Wait a sec, Vav!" One of them called out, grabbing his comrade's arm. "That's Jango Fett!"

 _Oh, sure I'm Jango Fett. I'm only a half a foot too tall and half as wide as he is... And a hell of a lot smarter._

"Jango Fett's dead, Rayx! Fucking Jedi took his melon off like vvffpt!" his Rodian comrade replied, swinging his arm like he was holding a light saber.

"What if it was one of his clones and not the real thing?" a Karkarodon pointed out. They all looked at Bane.

"Are you really Jango Fett?"

Bane resisted the urge to fly off the handle and shout at the man. It was one of Jango Fett's "rules" to always be polite. Even to stinking, stupid pirates trying to kill him.

"I'll leave that up to you," Bane replied. "If you're feeling up to fighting me, that is."

"You're one guy an' there's..." the weequay pirate stopped and started to count.

"Twenty of you," Bane said.

"Aye, thanks," the weequay said. "There be twen'y of us and one of you."

"You're right. You should get a few more guys, then try to take me," Bane grinned, that time. _Please work..._

,

.

Fett couldn't stand on his own.

When Ahsoka realized that, she also realized their plan was shot. He went down on his knees and promptly fell onto his chest as he tried to push himself up again. She grabbed him under his arms and hauled him up. "You're okay," she said.

Both of them knew she was lying.

"Use the Force on me, make me stand," he said.

"It doesn't work like that..." she almost started to say. Instead, she concentrated on holding him up, putting a Force grip around his chest. He staggered a few steps, but relaxed into an almost normal pace. Almost. Fett grabbed the broken bar his hands had been lashed to and stepped out of the tent silently. Ahsoka felt him kill the guard outside the tent and use his body as a shield while he used the man's blaster to kill the other guard and four other pirates. Ahsoka followed him out, grabbing the second guard's blaster.

That was when Ahsoka realized he hadn't killed the second guard, just wounded him. Fett shook her shoulder roughly, catching her attention. "Cover me," he told her and knelt beside the wounded guard. Ahsoka didn't think she'd ever be able to get that scream or the sound of Fett's fingers digging into the blaster wound on the man's thigh out of her head.

"Where is my fucking armor?"

,

.

"Where the fuck is he?!" the Zygerian pirate captain roared in anger. The guards slumped over, totally dead. The Zygerian turned around and his feet left the ground, kicking. A crushing feeling surrounded his knees, forcing his legs straight. Fett slid into place, perfectly, hand sliding around the Zygerian's throat. The helmet's visor was splattered with blood.

"I'm right here," Fett said. "Ahsoka, you still okay with me murdering every single fucking pirate?"

Ahsoka stepped out from behind Fett. She propped her elbow on his shoulder and smirked up at him as he looked down at her. Her other hand was raised, fingers slightly curled.

"Can I at least break his legs?"

"Go for it," Fett said. She closed her fist and the pirate screamed, bone cracking and shattering, through his skin in some places. "You were a screamer, too. Very loud, very shrill, very, very womanly screams," Fett said, glaring up at the Zygerian.

"'Were?'"

With a jerk and twist of his hand, Fett snapped the pirate's neck. He swayed and sagged against Ahsoka, hissing in pain as falling against her put pressure on the open wounds just under his armor. " _Shab_ ," he moaned, trying to get to his feet.

"Easy," Ahsoka sat him down on the sand, pulling his helmet off. She tugged the back plate off and unstrapped the rest of the plates on his torso. She scanned the damage on his back—it was bad. Ahsoka closed her eyes and put her hands just over his back. "Cover me," she said. He grunted an affirmative. She took a deep breath and concentrated on sealing up his wounds.

"Hey, you're both alive."

Bossk's voice was an irritating, untimely interruption. Ahsoka glanced at his back. At least it had stopped bleeding and some of the shallower wounds were sealed up, the wider ones looking narrower. He'd have ridged scars all across his back no matter what she did.

"Yeah, we're alive," Ahsoka said.

"What're you doing? Giving him a back masssage?" Bossk rasped. He had blood on his claws and jaw. Ahsoka knew Trandoshan blood wasn't green or blue.

"Healing him," Ahsoka replied. "He was beaten pretty badly."

"I'm fine," Fett grunted, replacing his armor as he stood. He slapped the helmet on. Ahsoka could feel his pain radiating off him, but knew better than to argue with a Fett. The clones retained that feature, which she could only override by throwing rank in their faces. But Rex being an argumentative jerk had saved _her_ life once or twice. And Fives—his soul to the Force—had saved countless lives by being argumentative and contrary. Ahsoka knew it had to be a Fett thing, by now.

.

,

"...All that... For that?"

Bossk's question hung in the air, annoyingly. Jexx didn't look at him, instead staring down at the black box. He put his finger on the print-scanner lock and it popped open. A smile—a sad but oddly content smile—fell into place on his face. He reached in and touched something, then rested his head in his hand. Ahsoka could feel his swirl of emotions. Anger, disappointment and betrayal were not among them. He felt like Sev had when Walon Vau had hauled him in, by his collar scowled down his nose at him and yanked the sniper in for a hug, cursing everything in the galaxy, but Sev and calling him his son. Sad, embarrassed, a little dazed and somehow content and happy, even. Ahsoka couldn't help smiling at that.

"Ahem, the, uh," Jexx paused and cleared his throat again, making like he was fixing his hair, but wiping his eyes with the cuff of his sleeve. "In the chest, there's those four compartments. T-take one for each of you. Sava has your pay on her desk."

The four bounty hunters walked out of his office. Ahsoka swore she heard him laugh as she walked out, following Fett.

"Aay'han," she said. Fett turned, like he hadn't heard her right.

"What?"

"Aay'han," she said. "It's a word Kal Skirata taught me. It means—"

"I know what it means," Fett said. "Why do you know it?"

"I told him I liked the way the word sounded and he told me what it meant," Ahsoka replied. "It's a beautiful word."

"What's it mean?" Bane asked off-handedly as he collected his payment.

"It's that bittersweetness," Ahsoka said.

"It's when you remember those you've lost and think of those that are with you," Fett said, his tone softening slightly from the otherwise hard edge. "It's that feeling of being in the middle of that, the mourning and the joy."

"Aaaw, what a poet you are," Bossk said, sticking his payment in his jacket pocket. He scooped up his fourth of the treasure, dumped it in his bag and prowled out.

"No class at all, those Trandoshans. It is a beautiful thing," Bane rasped. Ahsoka swore she felt a note of _aay'han_ in him. Then it was gone. "See you two around, then. Fett, Little Lady." Bane tipped his hat, collected his treasure and strolled for the door, whistling. He pulled a Toydarian apple out of a pocket on his coat and bit into it as he walked out.

"Can't feel it if no one's with you, then," Ahsoka said, glancing at Fett. He glanced back.

"I'm not overly fond of traveling alone," he said after a pause that felt too long for its own good. "And you need to fix my back, anyway."

"I guess I do owe you that much," Ahsoka said. Past Fett's shoulder, she could see into Jexx's office. He was holding a toy blaster pistol and felt pirate hat and was crying. But he wasn't upset, exactly. Ahsoka smiled grimly in polite respect for his mourning and followed Fett, offering to carry his share of the treasure.

,

.

Ahsoka wasn't sure when exactly they'd decided to kiss.

Maybe it was as she was bandaging his hand, or maybe as she was finishing up the healing on his back the best she could. All she knew was that once they'd kissed, it appeared to be decided that it was going to go much further than that. It had been years since she'd had sex with someone and Boba Fett far outclassed Lux Bonteri in... just about everything, she realized. Especially physical size.

By the time they _started_ , she was too sapped to fix his wrist, though that hadn't exactly stopped him. His touch had burned her skin like fire, delivering an electric charge straight through her nerves. He didn't completely let down his guard for her, but at least his aura lit up. Desire, passion, hunger... Each one had their color and his aura was swirling with them. Apprehension was also among the colors. And indifference made a jabbing, sharp appearance, forced in.

"Please, Boba," she whispered his name. "I won't hurt you..."

He was hesitant, but the indifference vanished. The apprehension didn't. He'd been hurt before, she understood. He'd been hurt, _bad_. She had no intention of putting him through whatever had damaged him. Hell, she wasn't sure this wasn't a one-time thing and she'd go out of her way to avoid him for the rest of their lives.

But then his guard dropped and she got his full rush of emotion. Hunger, desire, passion, anger, frustration, confusion, betrayal, fear, sadness, spite, apology... Ahsoka kissed passion back to the forefront of his mind. She pretended not to notice the taste of salty tears. Wordlessly, they fell together. She dosed off, he didn't. She woke and took him into her arms and hummed the tune Anakin had taught her. She fell asleep with a gruff Concord Dawn drawl murmuring the words to the song, maybe even in her imagination.

 _"Ain't no rest for the wicked, 'till we close our eyes for good..._ "

* * *

I know what the damn song's about. The lyric just fits. Don't own it.


End file.
